The English League One match between Millwall and Sunderland unknowingly entered the 40th minute of the second half. Almost everyone thought that the two teams would end in a draw.
Even Aldridge felt that a handshake and a peace settlement was a fair outcome. After all, Millwall was still unable to produce the amazing smooth attack.
But surprises come quietly when you don’t have expectations.
Schneider received the ball from the right. In the previous more than 80 minutes of the game, after receiving the ball, he would pass the ball at a 45-degree angle from the wing, or pass directly into the space between the opponent's full-back and center back. But this time, he did
After making a fake move, he deceived the opponent's defensive player, moved laterally with the ball, and after getting close to the center, there was an opening for passing the ball. He kicked the ball to the right side of the top of the arc in the penalty area.
Sunderland's defensive midfielder saw a Millwall player dropping back from the penalty area in the path of Schneider's pass.
Solskjaer!
After taking over Trezeguet's position, he did not go deep into the penalty area, but ran back and forth in the penalty area. Although it annoyed Sunderland's defenders, he did not create a threatening attack.
But at this moment, he appeared at the top of the penalty area by accident, and there was no defensive player around to mark him.
Solskjaer, who was half sideways facing the goal, felt calm when facing Schneider's pass. He had been observing the situation on the field since he sat on the bench. It was not accidental that he appeared in this position to catch the ball easily.
!
If it weren't for the lack of tacit understanding between him and other teammates on the team, he believed he wouldn't have gotten such a good opportunity just ten minutes after coming on the field.
The penalty area was full of people. Solskjaer knew that he had no space to dribble the ball, and he didn't even have time to stop the ball and turn around to adjust. Therefore, he thought about what to do next second before receiving the ball.
Shoot!
And it’s difficult to shoot skillfully!
He hit the ground ball with the inside of his right foot and shot it, aiming at the upper right corner of the Sunderland goal!
After shooting the ball, Solskjaer raised his head and looked at the ball with bright eyes as it jumped up like a rising rainbow.
The next second, Solskjaer was stunned.
The ball bounced out of the penalty area!
Solskjaer immediately raised his right hand and hit his right arm with his left hand. He turned and shouted to the referee: "Handball! Handball!"
The ball he shot hit the arm of Sunderland's jumping defender before popping out of the penalty area. Otherwise, Solskjaer was sure it would have been a wonderful goal!
Other Millwall players also raised their arms and shouted at the referee.
Almost at the same time, the referee blew his whistle and pointed at the penalty spot in the Sunderland penalty area with a majestic look.
Penalty kick!
When the Sunderland players saw the referee decisively awarding a penalty kick, they immediately gathered around...
Aldridge didn't react at all on the sidelines. He was far away and couldn't tell whether it was a handball, or whether the opponent's arms had opened to expand the defensive area. He just instinctively got excited and shouted, "That was a handball."
", and then when he saw the referee awarding a penalty kick, he stopped talking and clapped instead.
The fans at the scene booed the referee, and the Sunderland players protested to no avail.
Millwall's designated first penalty taker, Larsson, stood in front of the penalty spot. Under the pressure of boos from the audience, Larsson easily shot the ball into the blind corner.
Millwall leads by one goal away from home!
Aldridge let out a sigh of relief after seeing the penalty kick go in.
No matter what, it is always more satisfying to win the game than to get a draw.
He applauded the players from the sidelines, then put away his smile and asked the players to calm down and defend.
There are three minutes left in the game, and including stoppage time, it will only be about five minutes.
Sunderland was naturally unwilling to fail after falling behind at home, so they launched a fierce counterattack in the last five minutes, but failed to break through Millwall's gate.
Instead, in the last minute of injury time, Stam's header clearance pushed the ball to the right. Thuram's big-footed clearance turned into a counterattack. Larsson headed the ball backwards in the center circle.
Not far away, Solskjaer sprinted at full speed into the opponent's half. With Sunderland's heavy pressure, Solskjaer successfully countered offside and went to the meeting alone!
Facing the attacking goalkeeper, Solskjaer confidently pushed the ball into the lower right corner of the goal outside the penalty area.
2:0.
Solskjaer, who played less than 20 minutes, performed magic in the first game of his career.
After creating a penalty kick and scoring a goal, Millwall took away three points in the away game. It also steadily improved the team's confidence and cohesion.
After the game, Aldridge hurriedly shook hands with the Sunderland coach, then walked into the tunnel and was interviewed in the mixed zone with only a few words.
"Sunderland's performance is very stable. In addition to the team's stable performance, we won the game with more or less luck. I also hope that good luck will always favor us."
Millwall, which has won two consecutive games, continues to sit at the top of the standings, which is not what Aldridge cares about.
In the following period, Millwall began a series of double matches in a week.
After three days of rest, Millwall ushered in its first-round League Cup opponent at home: Plymouth of the fourth tier.
In this game, Aldridge performed a full team rotation and played with a full substitute lineup.
Goalkeeper Bute, defenders Phil Neville, Dean Richards, Marco Materazzi, Gianluca Zambrotta.
Midfielder Beckham, Vieira, Ballack, Grenjaer.
Forward Kevin Phillips, Solskjaer.
The average age of this lineup is 19 years old.
Although Aldridge has no thoughts about the cup, it does not mean that he will give up the game easily. Even if he loses, he must lose in a worthwhile way.
He was directing from the sidelines throughout the game, constantly shouting for players on the field to run and cover their positions.
The offensive starting points of this lineup are the center and the right. In contrast to the main lineup, Aldridge is still suppressing Nedved's offensive talent. He gives Ballack more freedom to move forward, while Beckham on the right
, like a precision-guided weapon, Bayesian Arc has not yet become famous, but as long as Beckham can create several threatening attacks with ten or twenty long passes, then it will be able to meet Aldrich's expectations.
Glenchard on the left is very fast, and his sprint speed of 100 meters is comparable to that of a track and field athlete. Aldrich also asked him to only push forward on the left to create threats.
The first round match against Plymouth in the League Cup was not exciting, with the ball almost flying in the sky, but Millwall's players showed the qualities Aldridge wanted to see.
In the end, the players who shone in the audience were Kevin Phillips and Beckham. The former scored a hat trick and the latter's precise long passes were eye-catching.
The final score was 4:3.
After Ballack's unscrupulous attack, Vieira was the only defensive barrier left. Although the performance was not too bad, it still exposed many flaws, allowing Plymouth's offensive combination to easily face Millwall's young and immature team.
Defence.
Plymouth had more absolute scoring chances than Millwall throughout the game. If Butt hadn't made a high pass and a low block, Millwall's League Cup journey might have ended in the first game.
After the game, Aldridge praised the entire team. For many players who have no professional experience, winning in their first game is enough.
Four days later, Aldridge will face an opponent at home that makes Millwall fans unhappy: Derby County.
The promotion play-offs three months ago are still fresh in my mind. Derby County defeated Millwall 5:1 in two rounds, blocking their promotion to the Super League.
After the game, small-scale conflicts broke out between fans from both sides.
Regarding the tactical settings for this game, Aldrich still followed the arrangements of the previous two games, but he needed to mobilize the team's mood in the preparation meeting.
With three consecutive wins in the new season, the morale of the entire team is good and they are full of confidence.
They also became increasingly convinced of Aldrich.
At the team preparation meeting, Aldridge stopped talking after analyzing his opponent Derby County. He did not announce the disbandment, but instead remained silent for a period of time.
The players looked at each other, wondering why the leader suddenly got stuck.
Aldridge curled his lips and showed an unpleasant expression, looked around the team, raised his eyebrows and said: "Do you know what the relationship between Derby County and us is?"
Most of the players who have just arrived in the UK less than three months ago have blank expressions and really have no interest in the team's history.
Even Beckham and Neville were confused.
Derby County is the team of Derby City. It cannot compete with Millwall. There are no unsolvable knots in history.
Only Southgate, who was in London, was thoughtful.
"It seems Gareth knows. Please tell everyone."
Being named by Aldridge, Southgate shrugged and said: "Derby County was our enemy last season, and tomorrow is a revenge game for us."
After listening to Southgate's words, some players still expressed confusion.
Aldridge said solemnly: "Yes, tomorrow is revenge. To be honest with you, if Millwall defeated Derby County last season, it is possible that we would be in the top league now, but just because of losing to that...
Derby County strives to stay in the First Division. Look at Derby County's performance in the past half month. They lost to Barnsley and drew with Luton. It's a joke. Millwall was last season.
Why did we lose to such rubbish? Because Derby County only scored one point in the first two games, so when they come to the Lion's Den tomorrow, they will definitely want to take away three points from us. After all, just three months ago, they won
We stepped on Millwall's corpse here and headed to Wembley. Although we lost to Leicester City in the end, in their eyes, we were his fucking softies who could let them go on a killing spree and let them find
Get your confidence back and relive the feeling of victory. What should we do? Go over and politely tell them: Millwall three months ago has nothing to do with us? Who the hell is going to listen to this? I just want to see them play.
